An Emotional Final Appearance in Roth for Laura Siddall

Photos: Kevin Mackinnon

Great Britain’s Laura Siddall has a long history here in Roth – she’ll be competing here for the sixth time after three fourth-place finishes and two runner-up finishes. The 44-year-old is incredibly popular at this race, and things got very emotional during the press conference when she announced this would be her final appearance. We caught up with her after the press conference:

Slowtwitch.com: So, Laura, just a little on the emotional side at today’s press conference. Your final appearance here in Roth, and possibly your last race. 

Laura Siddall:  Yeah, I know. One side of me is looking forward to being able to just go off and ski on a weekend, or go hiking with my puppy, and not have to think “I should be doing a bike session, and a swim session, and a run session and feel guilty for missing out. On the other hand, the last two years have been tough and I think I’m really ready for a change. I am that much older than most of the girls now, and the sport is moving on so quickly, so I think it’s just a good point to close one chapter and open another. 

For those who aren’t familiar with the last two years, I think it all started with a crash at IRONMAN Brazil, right?

I still don’t have any memory of the event. I got hit by a car during the race in Brazil on the bike and suffered a brain bleed. And, obviously, then a concussion. I was lucky enough to get a wild card for the IRONMAN World Championship in October. I think that gave me a little bit of focus for getting back to fitness. But since then, it’s been a real struggle with a lot of things. And I raced at the beginning of last year in New Zealand …and I shouldn’t really have raced. I wasn’t in a place mentally or physically to race but I did because I felt committed. That kind of put me back, I guess, over that next year. So I didn’t race the rest of the year and we tried to take a real step back and just ride my bike for the fun of riding the bike in the mountains and not have any pressure or structure. But at the same time, I wasn’t ready to walk away from the sport like that. Going into Brazil, I’d had a fantastic 18 months. I came to Roth when it was in September – I came straight from the Paralympics where I’d been a reserve guide for the visually impaired athletes, and I came second, and then we went into 2022 and we had the two World Championships and I was seventh and 10th – which are my best worlds results, and I went into the start of 2023 probably in the best shape of my life and really excited that I still had areas to improve. I was still improving in the sport and I could still get better and be competitive. But then the crash happened and, since then … it’s been a real struggle just to get back. But, at the same time, I wasn’t prepared to walk away from the sport. I wanted to go on my own terms, which I appreciate is a very privileged position. Not many athletes get that opportunity. Often it is injury or something that makes them leave the sport. So I wanted to try and go out on my own terms. It’s not been quite the year that I would have planned … but just to get back on the start line here and do another full distance and hopefully we’ll get to the finish line.  

What will it mean to you to get to that finish line, to have a have a good day? 

I mean, I would like to have a good day. You know, you have the fairy tale ending of a podium and amazing results and stuff … you dream about that. Finishing on that is probably unrealistic, but I would still give it a shot. You just wanna have a good race … and you’re still running in the marathon.

I don’t know what the finish line is going to be like. I wasn’t expecting to get emotional in the press conference and I did, so God knows what is going to happen on the marathon and when I enter that stadium. I hope I’m not in a sprint finish for position or something and I can actually sort of enjoy the stadium. 

But a sprint finish wouldn’t be a bad way to end things here, either.

If it was a sprint finish for a podium, yeah, I would go for that one.

You talked about it earlier – there have been so many changes in the sport. What do you think about where things are at in triathlon right now? 

I think it’s exciting. Obviously on the women’s side of the sport the level is just going up. Daniela Rief led the way, and in more recent years Taylor Knibb has done a lot. Laura (Philipp) and Kat Matthews are doing amazing things – the women have raised their game, which I think is exciting. 

And on the men’s side as well, there’s so many of the short course athletes coming up through the distances, which brings another level of speed. And I think people are realising they can do a lot more with their bodies and their capabilities week on week. 

I think that’s really exciting … I think we’re moving in the right direction. I think there’s a lot more to come and there’s a lot more we can specifically on the women’s side, but I do think we’re moving in the right direction.

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